


In the caves behind my house

by BookofMac



Category: Jack West Jr Series - Matthew Reilly, REILLY Matthew - Works, Scarecrow Series - Matthew Reilly
Genre: A softer world - Freeform, Book Cipher, Ciphers, Dreams and Nightmares, Families of Choice, Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Team Bonding, adopted family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5063332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookofMac/pseuds/BookofMac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short fics inspired by the A Softer World comics</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Every Hero Needs an Origin

 

Lily was five when she asked the all important question. It was Max who she asked, while he was fiddling with some plane console parts for Sky Monster.

“What happened to my parents?” She asked, big brown eyes shining with curiosity. Max paused his work, and turned to look at her, his face somber but kind.

“What would you like to know?” Max asked her, leaning forward to look her in the eye from his work chair.

“Why aren’t they here? What happened to them?” Lily asked.

“Jack and I meet you mother when she was pregnant with you, she’d run away from you father, who was not that nice of person if was to be totally honest. Her name was Malena and she was very kind and very strong.”

“What happened to her?”

“She…” Max paused, mulling over his words. “She was captured by some very bad people and she passed away while giving birth. You father died not that long after.”

“Oh.” She said, dejectedly. Max got down on the floor and look squarely into her eyes

“You don’t need to have you parents to have a family, Lily. You have no idea how special you are to us, everyone loves you so much.” Max said, smiling at her.

Lily leaned forward and gave him a tight hug. Max returned it warmly.

“Thank you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by:  
> http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=314


	2. You Need Both

_i_

“I don’t know how you’d live without me.” Mother said, slapping Schofield on the back.

“Neither do I Mother.” He said, smiling, as he flipped the burgers on the grill.

“You need to do it like this.” Ralph said, pushing Schofield out of the way.

“Honey you don’t need to be that aggressive.” Mother said, in a teasingly disapproving tone.         

“I thought you liked that?” Ralph replied, grinning

“Okay there are things I don’t need to hear!” Shane exclaimed, much to Mother and Ralph’s amusement.

“Yeah Ralph, lay off the details of your personal time please.” Book II said from the deck.

“Some of us are trying to eat!” Juliet said from next to him.

“We’re just messing with him.” Mother said, ruffling Schofield’s hair. “After all he’s our friend.”

 

_ii_

“Why is it when ever we see each other, your about to die.” Knight asked, while Scarecrow looked at him in disbelief. They where in the middle of a fire fight for fuck sake

“If you want to be an asshole, do when we aren’t under fire.” He said through gritted teeth.

“What did you do to get this to happen.”

“I guess I’m very popular today.” Scarecrow replied.

“Oh yes, very popular. Popular enough to be shot at by the French again. I thought you had cleared that up.” Knight asked, clipping in another round.

“To be honest, so did I.” Schofield grunted out

“Rufus is inbound, eta two minutes.”

“Great.”

“I don’t know how you’d live without me.”

“Neither do I Knight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by:  
> http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1123


	3. This Will Have Been Enough

_First step_

She’s going to live and save the world, she will live, **she will live**. She so important, she’s by best friend. Protect Lily.

_Second step_

What’s gong to happen to me? It doesn’t matter, Lily’s the important one. I hope this is enough, it will be enough. _Protect Lily_.

_Third step_

Almost there, just need to be faster. I need to protect her. Maybe I wont get shot. Go faster Liam. **Protect Lily**.

_Fourth step_

A couple more steps, almost there Liam. The stairs are so close. **_Protect Lily_**.

_Fifth step_

Prote-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, this is one of those things I wrote because I'm a horrible person  
> Inspired by  
> http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=400


	4. F**k 'should'

“Hey Mum?” Lily asked carefully, keeping her tone soft.

“Hello Lily, what’s up?” Zoe replied.

“What should I do when I grow up? The kids at school are talking about their futures and it really nerve racking. They keep talking about being doctors and lawyers and I don’t know what I should do because normal people are different you know? But I also want to do ballet but there isn’t that many ballerinas that are not white but I want to do history too? Not to mention people are talking about dating and I don’t know anyone that I would date and it seems kind of weird to date people and not tell them about the mission stuff-” Lily rambled and Zoe smiled down at her.

“Lily.” She said cutting her off.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck should. You can do what ever you want at whatever pace you want to. Lily you don’t need to do anything that you don’t want to. Jack, the others and I will support you no matter what you do, be it ballet or historical studies. Do you  understand?”

“Yeah,” Lily said nodding her head in understanding “I think I get it.”

“Do you want a hug?” Zoe asked. Lily nodded and embraced her and Zoe returned it.

“Hey Mum?”

“Yes?”

“Swear Jar.” Lily said cheekily.

“Get going to do your homework _A leanbh_.” Zoe said smiling at her adopted daughter.

“Okay. Love you.” Lily said, kissing her cheek and rushing to her room.

“Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note that A leanbh (uh LAN-uv) literally translate “my child”. It think that the team would have given Lily pet names based on their native languages because I think it’s adorable. These two are very important to me.
> 
> Inspired by:  
> http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=452


	5. She Died in That Desert

She was dead.

She was actually dead.

She did not wake up, she never survived the embrace of Anubis and, in that moment, Jack West Jr cried.

The others found Alexander. He had been rolled up as a ball several steps down the stairs, cowering and speckled with blood splatter from the bodies minced by the turbines above him.

She was dead.

The funeral was short and small, held at the farm where she had grown up. They had found Liam and Doris’ bodies too. Four grave markers in total, three for the bodies present and one for that of Enrique, who they could not recover the body of, being in the crocodile infested swamp and assumed to be eaten.

They all mourned but no one lay blame at anyone. They couldn’t have known what would happen, only Zaeed knew what would happen and he was dead. A death caused by Lily’s sacrifice. Her death was the equivalent of cutting out the heart of the the group, and scattering the members to the winds.

Max buried himself deeper into his work, never noticing the people he had come to call family, changing allegiances and locations. All of this while becoming entrenched in a task that he would never be prepared for alone.

Zoe left for Ireland and never left, she left the army. No one came after her and she was fine with that. She wished it wasn’t this okay for her, to cut herself off, to leave, but it was.

Zahir stayed in the shadows, those cast by his family and himself. He felt cold, just so cold and numb to the world that he wondered what would happen if he never woke up. He just looked on into the distance, both eyes taking in a

V.J. sat at the bar, taking shots and looking at his feet. The drink burnt the back of his throat but dulled the rest of his senses. He slammed his third cup down and motioned to the bartender for a fourth.

Ben hid. He dropped contact with everyone but Zahir, and even that was shaky at best. His movements were erratic and he could never settle, never be comfortable, paranoid fear filled his mind with every shadow and dark pathway.

Sky Monster stopped flying, stopped reading, stopped everything really. He didn’t care anymore. His parents tried to help him but he just couldn’t fly without thinking of the little girl he was supposed to protect, if only he had come with reinforcements sooner. If only...

Jack disappeared. No one was left to find him. He wanted no one to find him. He wanted nothing more then to go back in time. He couldn’t never could though, not even if he could spin the planet in reverse.

Lily was dead and his whole world was gone.

She was dead.

She was dead.

Jack bolted up out of bed with a start. His face was stained in sweat and his sheets had twisted around his frame. Zoe was away on business in Ireland, it was just him and Lily in the house.

“Daddy? Hey it’s okay.” Lily said, coming into the room, “You where calling out in your sleep.”

“It was just a bad dream kiddo, just a dream.” Jack said, slightly breathless.

Lily gave him a skeptical look before she hugged him tightly. She survived here, Jack reminded himself. She had survived sunspots and dark stars and a hell of a lot more. She was here. That was enough. It would always be enough.

“I love you daddy.”

“Love you too, Lily.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bad person sometimes; bait and switch endings are both the worst and the best in my opinion, 'what if' scenarios and my jam but also pain.
> 
> Inspired by:  
> http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=140
> 
> fun fact: the original title was 'a dream where she died in that desert' but i didn't want to spoil the spoil the twist.


	6. A Contingency Plan

“Hey Zoe.” Lachlan called from the computer monitor he was tapping away at.

“Yes?” She asked turning to face the twins.

“What’s your zombie plan?” Julius asked from the seat next to his brother. She raised an eyebrow at the two.

“How is this relevant to the mission?” She asked crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Well it’s not _technically_  directly related, but most apocalypses tend to have a ‘ _dead will rise_ ’ vibe.” Lachlan said, gesturing wildly as he typed, Zoe was amazed that he didn't knock anything over.

“And since we are working on stopping the apocalypse.” Julius continued. 

“It stands to reason that all of us should have a zombie plan.” Lachlan concluded.

“Right.” Zoe turned to walk away.

“Come on Zoe!” the both said, stopping Zoe in her tracks she turned back to the two.

"We'll tell you ours." Lachlan said earnestly. 

"Will you two stop pestering me and focus on your work?" She saw the two nod vigorously. "Fine, what are you Zombie plans?" she asked, weary of the conversation.  

"I'm going to go to on of those big hardware stores and barricade myself there." Julius explained.

"While I'd go to a shopping centre." Lachlan stated simply.

"Which I still think is a stupid idea because that is where _everyone_ would go." Julius rebutted.

"Whatever man, it's not like Hardware stores wouldn't have the same problem. So Zoe what would you do?" Lachlan asked.

She sighed and thought about it for a few moments.

"Go on." Julius said impatiently.

"I’d probably go to Kenya and see my brother again.” she said softly, a remorseful look on her face.

The room was uncomfortably quite for a moment. The twins looked at each other, realising what they had prompted her to think about.

"Oh Zoe, we are so sorry." Julius said apologetically, making his way to get out of his chair 

"Don't worry about it boys," Zoe said motioning for him so sit back down "Just get back to work." She smiled weakly at them before exiting the room. 

The room was quiet for a few minutes. only the tapping of keys making noise.

"We should get her something shouldn't we?" Julius asked.

"Yeah, after the mission is finished." Lachlan responded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of the year!! It's been a while but I'm back. I have been relishing the pre year 12 holidays so writing has fallen to the side and I'm sorry about that.
> 
> Inspired by:  
> http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=527
> 
> I'd really appreciate Reviews and Kudos. Thank you.


	7. Think Up Ciphers

They lay in their bed. They were not doing anything, not really. Lily was back at school and they had no reason to be up, not today. It was a day for them to have for themselves.

Jack had his right arm over Zoe’s shoulder, his left had had been taken of and on the Vanity table, across the room. Zoe had curled up to his side, her hand on his chest, eyes looking no where in particular. Then she started to trace patterns on to his chest, Numbers, he realised.

“Zoe what are you doing?” He asked, softly.

“Writing.” She replied plainly, pulling herself in closer into the warmth of his embrace, continuing her fingers movement on his chest.

“Right.” He said and kissed her forehead.

“Hmm.” she sighed contentedly, continuing to trace the lines and dots onto his chest.

Jack drifted for a while, thinking to himself, not focusing on the figures being traced into his chest, then he focus on them and picked up on a pattern

2:31:16:8

2:177:1:12

2:131:2:1

Jack looked down at Zoe and smiled at her lazily. He leaned down to give her a kiss. Zoe looked surprised for a second then sunk into the kiss.

“I love you too, Zoe.” Jack said softly. Zoe gave him a soft half smile and rested her head on his.

“Thank you.”

Zoe settled back into her earlier position, cuddling him, but resting her head on his chest. She fell asleep listening to his heart beat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look and marvel at a not sad thing that I have written!  
> I wanted to write something that didn't want me to be too sad but this is heart breaking in it's own way
> 
> The Cipher I used should actually work. It the same book cipher from the series. I wanted to use the first Harry potter book but no it had to be lost in my sisters room, so I had to use the Chamber of Secrets. Do you know how had it was to find the word 'Love' in that book?
> 
> And if it doesn't work for you given that we have different editions of the book I'd love to see what your one is.
> 
> Inspired by:  
> http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=854
> 
> I'd really appreciate Reviews and Kudos. Thank you.
> 
> PS This is a song that i listened to while writing this:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4A1VhkYkzM


End file.
